


What We Missed

by reddies_eggos1711



Category: Stranger Things (TV 2016)
Genre: Crushing, M/M, Mike is a literal bisexual disaster, Mike is confused, Or not, Will is sorta out of character towards the end, and jealous, and really needs a hug, byler, don't fight me, everything that we've seen happened but this plot is pretty independent of that tbh, kinda wrote this in a spur of the moment thing, redemption because Mike was a clown in s3, take it how you will, technically canon but also not, will mostly has his shit together
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-06
Updated: 2019-10-06
Packaged: 2020-11-25 17:57:18
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,416
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20916203
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/reddies_eggos1711/pseuds/reddies_eggos1711
Summary: Jealousy, anger, pining, were all things that Mike had felt before. With El. He wasn't new to these feelings.When the Byers are back in Hawkins for the Summer of '87, Mike feels them all again.Only this time... for Will.And Mike is confused....aka that byler fic no one asked for but you are getting anyway where Mike is obliviously crushing on Will but won't admit it (the summary sucks someone rewrite it)





	What We Missed

**Author's Note:**

> alright chickpeas let's get to it.  
firstly, i honestly don't know why i wrote this but it's cute so it stays  
secondly, my editor hates byler so like hell was i giving this to her so be prepared for an unedited fic  
thirdly, mike and el aren't dating in this, just preknowledge though its intextualised  
fourthly, someone help me write a better summary good god

The first time Mike felt something was different was with El. Her and the Byers had come back for the Summer of ’87, and they were all beyond excited to be back together for such a long period of time. Mike noticed that a lot had changed since they last saw the Byers. For one, Joyce had cut her hair, it now sat barely above her shoulders. But more noticeably that, El and Will hadn’t cut theirs. Not so unusual for El, but for Will who was constantly in the unfortunate state of the saving money haircut. But now his hair no longer took on it’s normal bowl shape, instead falling much more like his brother’s. It was different but a good different.

Another major thing that had changed was that Will now wore glasses. Mike hadn’t known there was anything wrong with Will’s eyes, though upon asking Joyce later she quietly disclosed that it was an accident some bullies at school caused, and to say Mike was livid was an understatement and a half. But… Will looked good with the black frames, they made his already cool colour changing eyes stand out even more. El had also… uh, filled out? As you’d expect a sixteen year old girl does, but, strangely, Mike barely gave that change a second glance. For some reason, he was more wrapped up in how Will had changed.

But all that was beside the point. The point was the Party was back together in Mike’s basement like old times. El was explaining how school was going. That it was going better than the last year, and they’d even made some friends, and much to Mike’s confusing dismay, there was a girl.

“There’s this girl in Will’s maths class.” El explained shooting Will a teasing look, to which he only rolled his eyes. “And she approached him after class one day, told him she had a crush on him, and asked him out.” El was giggling profusely by that point, leaving Will to slap her playfully.

The Party shot back with a bunch of responses. A girl, or anyone, admitting to liking Will _never _would have happened in Hawkins. This was new. This was different. But a good different… At least to the rest of the Party. Mike, however, could not stop frowning.

“What did you tell her?!” Lucas chanted over Dustin’s hollering.

Will scoffed. “What do you think I told her? Thanks, she’s really sweet but I’m not looking to date right now.”

They nodded. He always was the rational one. And they all know that it wasn’t that he didn’t want to date someone, and if the right person came around he’d jump at the chance. It was that he was a part of the minority, or at his school could even _be_ the minority, and he didn’t date – or even like – girls.

When Will had come out to them the year before, no one was really surprised. And no one cared. They were still as good of friends as ever and Will feeling safe enough to tell them changed nothing. Except that it made Mike feel absolutely awful. He’d said some things once that, after Will came out, seemed so much worse but they would’ve hit Will differently than Mike intended. He’d spent an unrealistically long time apologising to him after that.

Mike was drawn away from his thoughts and back to the conversation with Max’s loud ass voice. “Was she mad!? Did she get upset!?”

Will frowned. “No? She was really nice about it and said that if I just wanted to be her friend, she’d be happy with that as well.”

Dustin made a noise of protest. “Is she even a teenage girl then? That sounds like some alien shit right there!”

Both Max and El hit him for that.

The first time Mike felt something was different was with El. When she explained that Will had admirers. Mike felt something in his chest. Something ugly he’d felt before… but not like this… not about Will. He couldn’t pinpoint why he felt it. Frankly he was afraid to find out. But he knew what the ugly feeling was.

Jealousy.

And he was confused.

…

The next few times he felt something was different came in agonising bursts.

First, when Will and Mike were babysitting Holly, despite her protests that she was a big girl, when Mike could not stop staring at Will.

At how he played with Holly, at how great he was at it, when he drew a picture for her, at him in general.

Oh, that was the worst. So many times that day, Mike had found him just losing himself when looking – nope, definitely staring – at Will. His <strike>pretty </strike> uh… _cool_ eyes, at his new hair which looked so much more… touchable than it used to, how _fucking flawless _his skin was – maybe he’s the alien – and, though Mike would never admit it out loud, how soft and _kissable_ his lips looked.

It was driving Mike insane. Why was he thinking about these things? Why all of a sudden was he thinking these things about his best friend of eleven years? What had changed? Or… had anything really changed?

Then there was the flushing. Every time Will spoke. With the Party, when they were alone, talking when he thought no one could hear. Every time Will spoke, Mike would feel the heat rush to his face and knew that he was undoubtedly bright red. They’d asked him about it multiple times. Was he okay? Was he sick? Hot? Sunburnt? But to be honest, he couldn’t tell them. To him it just felt embarrassed. And it was only when Will spoke.

What bullshit.

Mike had never paid attention to Will’s voice before. At least not to this extent. The extent of picking up on every little stutter, every breath, every stumble on words when he was nervous. The extent of noticing how calming his voice was. How even when he was mad, it still ran like honey. How Mike thought he could listen to it all day, despite Will not liking to talk a lot.

What actual fucking bullshit.

Then there were the thoughts. The stupid motherfucking thoughts.

They happened at the most random of times. The most inappropriate of times. The most stupid of times. _All the fucking time._ Curse his stupid teenage hormones that spurred but thank fuck for his rational brain that knows how to shut them down before they go too far.

It would always start with something small. His voice, his hair, his lips. And then it gets way too _not small_ in a literal instant. Hearing him whisper, touching his hair, _kissing his lips_. And that’s where Mike knows to shut them off. The moment his brain decides to make things move past friendly.

Kissing is not friendly. Kissing is most definitely _boyfriendly._

He doesn’t know why he thinks those types of things about his best friend. He’d never done that about any of his other friends. Except El, but that was when they were dating, and only then! He didn’t think those thoughts about Max or Kassidie from science. And he most _definitely _didn’t think those thoughts about any other boys. In fact, the mere thought of thinking of other boys like that made him want to gag. But not Will. Thinking about Will like that made him sick to the stomach… but not in a repulsed way. In a butterflies, silly, stupid, crush type way.

But that was bullshit.

Because Mike did _not_ have a crush.

…

The next time Mike felt that something was different came on more aggressively than previously.

The Party were together, talking about good old nothings in Mike’s basement again. Except Mike wouldn’t exactly call them ‘good old nothings’. They weren’t good. Because they were making him mad.

“We found out that when we first moved to our new school, half the cohort thought Will and I were dating.” El threw a giggle onto the end of her sentence.

The Party laughed. Well, the Party minus Mike. Mike scowled.

“How did they figure out that you weren’t?” Lucas asked.

El shrugged. “Never saw us doing couple-y things? Saw Joyce pick us both up? Saw Will making googly eyes at other people?”

Will hit her. “I _do not_ make googly eyes at other people! That is one hundred percent _you_!”

She laughed again. “Yeah, it is. I’m sorry.” She moved in to apologetically hug her brother, but he flinched away before she could, accidentally knocking his glasses off his nose and squeaking.

Mike would have smiled. It _was_ adorable. But he was mad. He didn’t know why but… hearing El talk about girls and couples and ‘googly eyes’ made his stomach feel weird. In a mad way. Maybe jealous again.

The Party noticed.

Max pointed it out. “Hey, sour puss. What’s wrong? You look mad?”

Mike just shook his head, further proving the point that he was indeed mad.

“You mad because we’re talking about relationships and you’re the only one not in one?” Dustin teased.

Mike threw his hand towards El and Will. “Not the only one. We were literally just talking about that.”

Dustin rolled his eyes. “Fine. The only one of those left in Hawkins.”

“No, I’m not mad because I’m not in a relationship.”

_Liar._

He frowned deeper at his own thoughts. He wasn’t mad for that reason?

Right?

…

The next time he felt that something was different… he ended up asking a stupid question.

Mike was starting to see why it used to annoy Will so much when they continuously talked about relationships when he wasn’t in one. As that’s all the Party seemed to want to do.

“El said you’ve finally got good friends…” Max scowled at nothing in particular. “Unlike last year… so tell us about them.”

Will smiled and Mike could’ve died. “Well, El and I are basically inseparable so her friends are my friends –”

El interrupted with a giggle. “_Except…_ tell them about the one you made all on your own!”

Will laughed too. “You make me sound like a child.”

Dustin shoved a finger in Will’s face. “Stop stalling, child. Tell us of this friend you made.”

“Ah, jeez. Alright then. I met him in science because I was late and forced to be lab partners with him. His name is Jesse and he’s actually really nice. He doesn’t give a second glance that I’m weird or a freak. Oh and he plays Dungeons and Dragons! He’s a Druid so if you ever meet him we can all play together!”

Mike felt the smile drop from his face. This time he wasn’t mad. He was upset. The smile that crawled onto Will’s cheeks when he spoke about this boy made Mike feel… rejected. He knew he shouldn’t. Whatever he’s feeling, Will clearly doesn’t feel in return.

Which is nothing. Because Mike feels nothing.

He knows that’s not true. He feels something. Something for Will. That scares him. Why now? After knowing him for his whole life? Was this a crush? Was this how they worked? He wouldn’t know. He sort of just fell straight into the love part of things with El.

Not focusing on what was happening in the conversation at the time, Mike interrupted whoever was talking. “What does it feel like to have a crush?”

All heads turned to him, and, as it turned out was talking, Will silenced briefly.

“What – you think I have a crush on Jesse?!”

Mike mentally slapped himself and felt his cheeks flush again. “No, ah, jeez, I’m sorry. I wasn’t listening to the conversation at all. Sorry.”

Looking only slightly downhearted that Mike hadn’t been listening, Will smiled lightly. “Okay, so what’s on your mind then? What’s it like to have a crush?”

Max frowned. “You’ve never had a crush before?”

“Well, celebrity crushes but they’re different.”

El raised an eyebrow. “You didn’t have a crush on me?”

Mike sighed. “No. I think I skipped that stage with you. Went straight to the like, you know?”

She nodded.

Lucas made a noise of confusion. “So, why do you wanna know?” Then one of realisation. “Do you think you have a crush?!”

Mike rolled his eyes, ignoring the obvious flushing of colour to his face. “Well, jeez, guys. I don’t know! That’s why I’m asking.”

The Party sent him a mischievous grin before launching into an explanation.

First Lucas. “You can’t stop staring at them. Even stalking them in some cases.”

Then Dustin. “You’ll do anything to hear them speak.”

Then Max. “What should be annoying about them is actually kinda endearing.”

Then El. “They make your tummy feel fuzzy.”

Then, to all of their surprise, Will. “Even though it’s really irrational, you keep thinking about what it would be like to kiss them or hold them or even be near them.”

They stared at him for a moment, watching Will’s face go red with embarrassment over what he said. In turn, Mike’s did the same.

Max nodded. “Yeah, and the big one is… you pretend these feelings don’t exist whenever you can because that’s easier to do than admitting them.”

Everything they had said, Mike felt… only… he felt more.

“So, when they smile it feels like that’s they only thing you’ll ever need anymore?”

The others stayed quiet, except Will who, ironically, smiled. “Yeah.”

“And when they talk you want to listen to them talk forever.”

“Uh huh.”

“And when they look at you, you realise that even if you don’t get to be with them, just seeing them happy will make everything okay?”

“Definitely.”

That’s when Max decided to intervene. “Woah, woah, woah. Mike, Will. I think you two are confused. What you two are now describing doesn’t sound like a crush.”

Lucas agreed with his girlfriend. “Yeah. A crush is someone that you’d like to be with because you’d like to be with them.”

Dustin too. “You just described someone that you’d like to be with but wouldn’t be with if it made them happier.”

El chimed in. Even she understood. “Guys… what you just said isn’t a crush.”

The four of them simultaneously murmured. “It’s love.”

Both Will and Mike recoiled, shaking their heads.

Mike stumbled on his thoughts. “What? No! I don’t love them! Not like that! It’s a crush, right?”

So did Will. “Yeah, I don’t like him like that! It has to be a crush!”

Despite Will just admitting his ‘crush’ on someone, the Party ignored it, except Mike who felt like a hole had been ripped through him.

Max shook her head. “It doesn’t sound like a crush.”

But it had to be, right?

He wasn’t in love.

He couldn’t be.

Could he?

…

Mike couldn’t believe he was doing this. After his friends all went home and he stood outside his sister’s door ready to knock, he couldn’t believe he was doing this.

It was a crush. That was what he was going with. For some reason, after eleven years of knowing Will and frankly sixteen years of being _straight_, Mike had a fucking awful crush on his best friend. He didn’t know why and he didn’t know how, but he knew he did.

And for the first time in a long time, Mike was going to his sister for advice.

He took a deep breath and knocked.

“What, mom!? I already got off the phone! Jesus!”

Mike winced at his sister’s screech through the door. He placed his hand flat on the door and sighed. “Nancy, it’s Mike.”

There was a scurry of footsteps before the door opened before him, almost sending him stumbling. She looked like she was about to be mad. Like she thought he was he to be an asshole like he usually was. However, he mad expression faded once she saw how down Mike looked. She grabbed him by the shoulder and dragged him in her room.

“Hey, what’s wrong?”

She gestured for him to take a seat on her bed while she spun her desk chair towards her and sat on it.

“I wanted to talk to you about something that’s been bothering me.”

She looked suspicious. “Okay…?”

He sighed. “I’m serious, Nancy. Despite all the shit I do, I actually trust you and look up to you a lot so please give me the benefit of the doubt and hear me out.”

Her expression turned guilty. “Yeah, yeah. I’m sorry, Mike. So what’s up?”

He took another deep breath. “Nancy… I think I have a crush… and I really don’t know what to do about it…”

Nancy almost looked relieved. “Oh, okay. I’m glad you trust me enough to ask me for advice, but wouldn’t Dustin or Lucas be better at this? Or if you didn’t want to talk to your friends, Jonathan or Steve or, hell, even Robin are probably better with girl trouble.”

Mike couldn’t help the tears the filled his eyes. He felt wrong. Nancy noticed and shuffled closer, placing her hand on his, silently asking if he was okay.

“But that’s exactly why I came to you…” Mike closed his eyes tight, squeezing a few tears loose and forcing the words past his lips. “Because it’s not girl trouble…”

When Mike opened his eyes he saw Nancy frown. She didn’t get it. “But you said this was about a crush –”

Now she was getting it.

“Ohhh. Shit, Mike.”

He looked away. “I don’t know what to do…”

“You don’t know what to do about what, Mike? That you like boys?”

Mike shook his head aggressively, turning to Nancy with red eyes. “But that’s the thing, Nance. I _don’t_ like boys. The thought of doing anything with another boy makes me want to be sick…”

Nancy raised an eyebrow. “But…?”

He sniffled. “But not with Will.”

A look of realisation bounced across her face. “Oh, it’s Will.”

Mike nodded. “Yeah, it’s Will.”

“So, you don’t like boys… but you like Will… who is a boy?”

“Yes? Ugh! I don’t know what’s going on! But I know when I try and think about other boys, think about them like I used to with El, it grosses me out. But when I do the same with Will, it doesn’t…? Ugh, I feel wrong, Nancy! What is this?”

Nancy grabbed his hand. “Hey, listen here. There is nothing wrong with you. And I’m gonna be honest, I don’t know why the only boy you like is Will but I do know one thing. You _like_ him. Not a crush. You like-like him. Not just as a friend. Maybe even –”

“Love?”

She smiled and nodded. “You’ve known him for – what? – ten, eleven years? That’s enough time to fall in love with someone a bunch of times!”

“But why now? I’ve known him that long! Why am I only feeling this now?”

“Well, maybe you’ve always felt it… but now that you’re older – more mature – and you’ve felt love before, maybe only now are you starting to realise what it actually is? Also the fact that you haven’t seen him in a while and that he’s just dropped back into your life is helping.”

“So, you think I’ve always loved him?”

Nancy smiled softly. “Think about it. In first grade when you saw him being bullied on the playground, you stood up for him.”

“Yeah, but I do that for all my friends.”

“Yeah, but would you bake cookies for them after standing up for them?”

Mike frowned. He had only ever done that for Will. “Probably not, no.”

“And you disobeyed mom’s orders to look for him when he went missing and refused to believe he was dead.”

“I’d still do that for any of them.”

Nancy threw a smirk at him. “I hear you guys left Dustin in a Russian fortress for a few days?”

“Hey! That was different!”

She laughed. “Anyway, and last year. When he came out to you. You realised that some stuff you said over the years could have come across as insensitive and tried to apologise for every single thing you said. And if you say you’d do that for everyone, you’re lying. I’ve seen how hard it is for you to apologise to the others, you just won’t let them win.”

Mike sniffled again. “I guess I see your point. But…” He frowned. “That’s not the reason I needed your advice… I mean, thank you! What you’ve said already helped a lot but…”

“Spit it out, Mike. What did you want advice on?”

“What do I do now that I know I love him? I can’t just keep watching him like a creep and hoping he doesn’t notice. I turn into a tomato! I’m not that subtle!”

She let out a chuckle. “Ignoring it doesn’t work, huh? Who’d have thought?”

Mike scowled at her.

“Okay, okay. But seriously… have you thought of just telling him? I mean, he won’t judge you for it, obviously, he’s in the same boat with the liking boys part.”

“_Boy._ I like _one_ boy.”

“Right, sorry. But you know what I mean. He won’t judge you for it.”

Mike scoffed. “That’s not entirely true. He won’t judge me for liking a boy, sure, that’s true. But he has every right to judge me if that boy is _him_! He doesn’t like me like that… that could throw off the whole balance of our friendship!”

There was quite a lengthy pause following that, until Nancy burst out laughing. “Wow, you’re a lot dumber than I thought?”

“What?” Mike whined.

“For as long as I can remember, Will has liked you.”

“What?” He deadpanned. “He doesn’t like me like that. Never has.”

Another eyebrow raise. “Really? Day you met him at kindergarten. You came home and at dinner you were proclaiming how Will had decided you two would get married. Mom had to shut you down saying you were much too young for that.”

“Yeah, so? We were kids. That’s what kids do.”

“Fourth grade school dance. Will wouldn’t dance with anyone but you.”

Mike stuttered on his own breathing to get out a defense. “He was just shy! And I was his friend!”

“After Will came home, before he was possessed, when he would get caught between here and the Upside Down, who would he call for?”

Mike tried to deny it. Only he couldn’t because it was true. Will did only call for him. “Me…”

“That’s right. Now, you don’t see how he looks at you… but I do. I see it all the time. And he looks at you like you hung the moon. Literally. That’s probably how you look at him now.”

He groaned. He would not admit that his sister was right. Because she wasn’t. Will didn’t like him like that. “Nancy, stop. Advice. Please. On how to deal with it.”

She sighed. “Well, still the best thing to do would be tell him, obviously. Or you know just wing it and kiss him. That’s what Jon and I did.”

“But… how?”

Nancy practically snorted, leaning back on her chair. “How do you kiss a boy? The same way you kiss a girl, you dumbass!”

“Nancy!”

She grinned, reaching out to presumably pinch her brother’s cheeks, had Mike not batted her hand away first. “Your best bet is telling him, but if you really want to ignore it, here is my advice to you. Despite how anti-effective this sounds, _do not_ avoid him. If you do, he will think he’s done something wrong. Being around him will provide more closure if you get to that stage. And, let’s face it, being away from him only makes you want him more, right?”

Mike nodded solemnly.

“See? So, that’s my advice to ignoring it. Don’t avoid him. And totally tell him, but, hey, it’s up to you.”

He shot her a thankful smile. “Thanks, Nancy. I really needed this. You helped a lot.”

“No problem, Mike. Remember, you can talk to me about anything. I’m not _just_ your annoying big sister. Now, get out of my room and go stress out about how you’re going to deal with not avoiding him.”

Mike would have laughed… if it weren’t ridiculously true.

…

Mike learnt very quickly that being around Will as though nothing had changed was a very bad idea. He knew Nancy was right and he couldn’t avoid him – he didn’t want Will thinking he did something wrong – but he was actually losing his mind.

Every time Will spoke, Mike swore he heard angels singing.

Every time Will laughed, Mike died and went to heaven before returning just to hear it again.

Every time Will smiled, Mike found himself falling deeper into a trance.

Every time Will touched him, Mike felt his legs give way beneath him almost collapsing him to the floor.

Every time Will was there, Mike basically wasn’t.

The night that everything changed, the Party was having a sleepover, of course, in Mike’s basement.

Dustin, Lucas, and El had already fallen asleep on the floor midway through Back to the Future which had been playing on the channel in the background of their conversation. Max had dragged her half asleep body upstairs for a drink. And Mike and Will had been sleepily talking on the couch for the last half hour.

Mike was slowly losing it. Every time Will spoke, Mike would feel his face heat up. As the temperature dropped, Will would move closer to obtain warmth an Mike’s breath would hitch in his throat. Will had taken his glasses off at this point, leaving Mike with better access to see Will’s <strike>cool</strike>, eh, fuck it, _gorgeous _eyes. His persistent yawns and stretches proved his tiredness, and to Mike proved outrageously adorable.

“And then Jesse spilled nail polish all over the lab bench…”

Mike frowned, his tired mind barely comprehending the action.

Will noticed. “What? Why are you frowning?”

Mike wasn’t awake enough to control any of his actions, so his sleep deprived mind answered for him. “I… I don’t like… I don’t really like hearing you talk about… about Jesse.”

Will yawned again. “Why not?”

Mike shrugged. “I think I’m jealous.”

Will bopped him on the nose with a weak laugh. “Why? Are you jealous because you’re not my only friend?”

Mike couldn’t respond to that. Not without lying. And he wouldn’t lie.

“That’s stupid. You know you’re my best friend… no matter what, right?” Will closed his eyes and scooted into Mike’s side, ready to fall asleep at any moment.

“What if I don’t want to be just your best friend?”

Will’s eyes opened again slowly. “What?”

He looked up at Mike, his eyes shifting from brown through hazel to green right before Mike’s eyes, and he lost control of his actions again.

He didn’t know why he did it. He didn’t know what went wrong in his brain to make him do something so out of character. But he did.

One moment there were less than a couple of inches between them, the next there were none.

Will’s lips were warm and soft just as they looked and Mike was falling. Deeper into a trance by each millisecond that passed.

There was hesitation at first, almost so that Mike was about to break it apart, but then… there wasn’t. And Mike felt Will there too. He was kissing back. Mike knew Will hadn’t done much kissing in his life, but he was so mesmerised by the movement Will brought to the kiss – the extra heat – that he barely noticed the lack of experience. In fact, Mike could’ve thought it to be one of the greatest kisses he’d ever experienced. Mike felt his hand move to Will’s cheek drawing them closer together.

But it didn’t last.

No sooner had Mike opted to pull them closer were they torn apart. Both very, _very_ awake now.

Will had backed as far away from Mike as he could without falling off the couch, his hand drawn to his lips and his eyes twelve sizes wider.

Mike knew he’d royally fucked up at that point. The tears that came with said realisation weren’t helping.

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m really so sorry. I –”

“You kissed me.” Will’s voice was emotionless, and he refused eye contact.

Mike felt the tears leak, as he tried to shuffle closer to Will not wanting to talk to loudly in fear of waking the others. “I know, I know. I’m so sorry, I just really wanted to do that and –”

Will pushed him back. “Wanted to?! What about when I wanted to?!” Mike couldn’t tell if Will was more angry or upset. His face was red with anger, but his eyes were glassy with tears. “What about the last eleven years when I’ve wanted to? I didn’t just kiss you!! I would never –”

Then came something that Mike would have never expected in his wildest dreams. Will punched him. Square across the jaw. It wasn’t the worst he’d ever received but it sure did sting like a bitch.

“I would never have put you in that situation! You had a girlfriend! And that was okay, I survived! But you – you didn’t even ask and I – wanted to? Not now – not after all this fucking time!” Will had never been one to swear, so his words cut Mike deep. The tears were strong now, in both of them.

“I’m sorry!” He choked out, despite the sobs making him shaky. “Nancy told me I should just go for it and –” 

“Then never fucking listen to Nancy again! You can’t just kiss me and –” Will stopped. He couldn’t continue. He was too hysterical to form words. Instead, he looked down, dropping his head in his hands, and let the sobs take over him.

Mike’s stupid irrational brain took over again. Out of pure worry, despite just being punched by the kid, Mike shuffled across and tucked the boy into a tight embrace. To Mike’s surprise, he let him.

He just kept crying and repeating himself. “You can’t just do that to me… not now…”

Mike held him tighter. “Can I explain myself, please?”

There was no response other than a sob so Mike just continued.

“I… I think I love you, Will. As more than a friend. That’s what the Party says… that’s what Nancy says… and deep down I know it to be true…” He paused, allowing for a breath. “I always have. I only just figured it out though because I’m stupid… and I’m sorry… I’m sorry I kissed you… I honestly didn’t know you felt the same… it was stupid to kiss you either way… I’m so sorry, Will. But I needed to tell you. It’s been driving me batshit all summer. I love you… I love you, I love you, I love you, I – ”

Will pulled out of the hug really aggressively and forced their lips together. Mike squeaked in mild alarm.

When they broke, Will punched Mike forcefully on the arm. “You’re a fucking asshole, you know that? I love you too. I love you _so_ much. And it’s been driving _me_ batshit for eleven years and you’re an asshole… but I love you too.”

Mike’s mind was in a panic. Of relief. Of gratitude. Of love. And slightly of pain.

“If you love me too, can you please stop punching me? I bruise easily.” _You dumbass bitch. There’s a time and a place!!_

That earnt him another hit to the stomach, forcing him to collapse backwards on the couch. “I hate you.” Will sneered, before crawling over the winded boy and kissing him again, effectively making it harder for him to regain breath.

Frankly though, Mike would rather go unconscious than stop kissing Will to breathe.

“Hey, is anyone still awake? What did I miss – holy shit.” Max’s voice record scratched as she jumped back down the stairs.

Will didn’t even flinch. Mike supposed he’d been waiting a long time for this. He just lifted a hand from where he sat straddling Mike and gestured for her to move along.

Mike broke them apart briefly. One, to regain breath, and two, to ask. “Is _this _what we’ve been missing? By being stupid oblivious dumbasses our whole lives? Is this what we missed?”

“Well, shut up, so we don’t have to miss anything more.”

Mike wasn’t going to argue with the cute bossy boy who left his face throbbing and tasting like salt.

No, he wouldn’t argue with Will at all.

**Author's Note:**

> i'm not even sorry
> 
> ...except i totally am. I'm sorry


End file.
